interest group

Most of the researchers in American politics and public policy focus on the Presidency, Congress, and Judiciary as the main institutions in the U.S. and consider the relations and interactions among them. However, the relationship between these main institutions affected by interest groups which can be seen in the process of decision making and their contribution to the public sphere. In an attempt to consider the role of interest groups, this paper’s main concern is to study the influence of interest groups on the public sphere in general, and particularly, the role of religious interest groups in the process of decision making for Muslim communities. The paper’s assumption is that the mosque and other religious institutions in the U.S. have multifaceted roles to mobilize Muslims and push them for sociopolitical participation and on the other hand; they can affect legislative and executive branches in their process of decision making. I will review the literature of interest groups, religious organizations, and policy-making models to explain the process of decision making and the factors that affect these procedures. Then I consider the effect of these Muslim institutions on the process of decision making in the U.S. and explain the relationship between these interest groups and policymakers in the U.S.